Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Sold by Zullo Investment Group Inc.

Zullo Investment Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 17.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,853,000 after buying an additional 4,763 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 21.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 101,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,210,000 after buying an additional 17,861 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 20.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 28,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,476,000 after buying an additional 4,914 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 138.5% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 121,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,745,000 after buying an additional 70,581 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 12.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 305,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,704,000 after buying an additional 33,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.60.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $133.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $141.25 and a 200-day moving average of $129.31. Nucor Corporation has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $170.52. The company has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.75.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,051,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,458,134. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,309 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,771. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.